Subsequent Encouters
by Artemis's Liege
Summary: Kitty tries to introduce herself to Rogue, but none of the staff at the Xavier Institute will let her anywhere close to her. Follows "First Encounters".


A/N: This is my first time writing WATXM Kitty. I'm not really sure if this is in character for her, but I did my best. Let me know if you think this is OOC for her. Enjoy, and feedback would be great.

Timeline: Set almost directly after "First Encounters". If you haven't read "First Encounters", this probably won't make much sense.

Rating: T, because Rogue is involved.

* * *

"You'll never guess what happened!" Kitty shouted the moment she yanked open the door to the X-Mansion's rec room.

The occupants of the room were momentarily startled by her arrival, and the eleven-year-olds playing pinball on the Batman-themed machine were so surprised that they lost their game. The group of teens lounging on the large, sectional sofa, to which Kitty directed this statement, was intrigued.

"What?" Bobby Drake demanded, straightening up from his recline against the leather sofa.

"Yeah, where've you been?" Cessily asked, her silver eyes fixed on Kitty, who bounded over to them and took a seat between Kurt and Piotr. "No one could find you anywhere."

"So here's what I did," Kitty began excitedly. "You know how the X-Men went to investigate Benetech? To check if they'd made the mutant cure?"

Four expectant nods greeted this statement.

"Yes, have they returned?" Piotr inquired in his deep voice.

"Yeah. In fact, I went with them," Kitty said flippantly.

"What?" An outraged expression settled on Bobby's face. "Scott told us we were too young to go! This is favoritism!"

"Did Mr. Summers change his mind?" Kurt queried, his English accented by his native German tongue.

"No," Kitty admitted. "I kind of . . . stowed away on the Blackbird."

This declaration was greeted with a mixture of shock and awe from her friends.

"No way," breathed Bobby.

"I bet Mr. Logan was furious when he found out," Cessily remarked.

"Oh, he was," Kitty conceded. "But when we were at the Benetech labs, Dr. McCoy, Mr. Logan and I found this girl. It was so weird! The labs were all empty, like the people working there had just gotten up and left, but then this mutant girl under mind-control tried to attack us."

"So what happened?" Kurt asked eagerly.

"Well," Kitty continued, "She managed to take down Mr. Logan."

"She must be awfully strong," Piotr mused.

"And fast," Kurt added.

"She was electrocuting him when Dr. McCoy tackled her," Kitty went on. "Bam!" She smacked her palms together for emphasis. "She was out. And that's when we discovered that she was being controlled by the MRD. They were using drugs to make her do weird stuff."

"What kinds of 'weird stuff?'" Bobby asked, interested.

Kitty glanced around the room and lowered her voice. The others leaned in to hear. "I heard Mr. Summers and Dr. McCoy talking. They think that the girl was a human Sentinel, used to hunt down other mutants, even though she's a mutant herself. The MRD burned the letter "**M**" into her skin to show everybody."

Bobby's eyebrows rose. "Whoa. That's some pretty freaky stuff."

"They took the girl to the medical center," Kitty informed them. "Wanna go see if we can visit her?"

"Yeah!" Bobby said eagerly, rising from the leather cushions.

"Totally," Cessily agreed, also standing.

Kurt and Piotr exchanged glances and remained sitting.

"C'mon, you guys," Kitty said. "Let's go."

"Kitty," Piotr began cautiously. "I am not sure if that is such a good idea."

"What?" Kitty was surprised. "Why not?"

"The girl was captured by the MRD," Piotr said haltingly. "In America, that is what you call a 'traumatic experience', yes?"

"Piotr is right," Kurt concurred. "The girl is a person, Kitty. She is not a museum exhibit up on display. Further more, she is probably alone and scared. Give her some time to adjust before you go charging off to upset her."

"I'm not going to upset her," Kitty said indignantly. "I just want to introduce myself and get to know her."

"Wait," Piotr advised. "The girl is probably very confused and she might be hurt."

Kitty shook her head and walked out of the rec room, Cessily and Bobby following.

"So, Kitty, is this chick hot?" Bobby asked.

"She's really skinny," Kitty replied. "I don't think she eats much."

"Ugh," Bobby groaned. "What's wrong with you girls? Eating disorders are not attractive. In fact, it's really a turn-off."

"Too much information, Bobby," Cessily informed him as they turned down the hallway to the elevators.

They came face-to-face with Jean Grey. She barely raised an eyebrow at their startled expressions.

"No," she stated calmly.

"No what?" Bobby asked, puzzled.

Her green eyes studied their faces for a moment. "No, you can't visit her. Rogue isn't even awake yet. There's no reason for you to go to the medical center."

"Well, when she does wake up, can we go and visit her?" Kitty pleaded, widening her eyes into what she hoped was an expression reminiscent of a playful puppy, both adorable and innocent.

Ms. Grey sighed. "This may be difficult for you to understand, but Rogue may not be up to seeing visitors for awhile."

"'Rogue?'" Bobby echoed. "That's a weird name. Why would someone name their kid after a kind of makeup?"

"That's the second time Ms. Grey mentioned her name," Cessily informed him. "Didn't you notice the first time?"

"I did notice," Bobby defended himself. "But Kitty started talking then, and you know what a motor-mouth she is."

"I am not a motor-mouth!" Kitty protested.

A mildly harassed expression settled across Ms. Grey's face. "'Rogue' isn't her actual name. We're just using it to refer to her temporarily." She ushered them back the route they came. "Focus on something else for now, okay? Don't you have a geometry test to be studying for, anyway?"

Dissuaded for the moment, the curious trio returned to the rec room and resumed their positions on the leather sectional. To their credit, Piotr and Kurt exchanged another glance, but refrained from commenting as their friends rejoined them on the sofa to watch TV.

However, Kitty was not to be distracted from her plans to meet the newcomer. At every opportunity, she questioned the teachers about the girl with the odd moniker 'Rogue.' More often than not, the response she received was a warning not to bother Rogue and to 'leave her in peace.'

That wasn't a problem. Despite her numerous attempts to gain access to the medical center, the doors remained tightly closed. And either this 'Rogue' girl had superhuman stealth abilities, including invisibility, or she had yet to enroll in any classes at the Xavier Institute.

As a result, Kitty could not possibly bother a person whom she had absolutely zero contact with, so she was technically following the instructions of her teachers. Almost an entire week passed before she tried to wrangle answers to her numerous questions about the girl from one of the senior X-Men.

"So, Mr. Summers," Kitty began as she placed her test on his oak desk after double-checking that she had completed every geometry question.

"If it's about, Rogue, just leave it alone," Mr. Summers advised her, not even glancing up from the paper he was grading. Kitty could tell the test was Kurt's from the spidery handwriting and lack of any red marks.

"But Mr. Summers-" The protest had hardly left her lips before Mr. Summers glanced up at her sharply. Although the ruby quartz sunglasses hid his eyes from view, his mouth tightened into a thin line.

"Listen to me, Kitty. Rogue is not here for your entertainment. She is not part of some carnival sideshow for you to scrutinize, so leave her alone. She's been through enough as it is without being subjected to the antics of you and Bobby."

"Scrutinize?" Kitty echoed blankly.

"It means to examine something closely," Mr. Summers explained.

"I know what it means," Kitty informed him. "I just thought it was an odd word to use."  
Mr. Summers looked at her flatly. "Go sit down, Kitty. I'll let you know when you can visit Rogue."

"Like that's ever going to happen," Kitty muttered under her breath, turning to go.

"Just be patient," Mr. Summers told her, and Kitty couldn't shake the notion that he was rolling his eyes at her behind his sunglasses.

Patience, however, did not come easily to Kitty. Excitement was something she thrived upon, and this was the most exciting incident at the Institute since Mr. Logan's decision to grow sideburns.

Deciding that a fellow teenager might be of more assistance, Kitty went to Warren for clarification about Rogue later that week.

"Tell me about her," Kitty demanded as she slid into the seat opposite Warren at the library table.

Several seconds passed before Warren seemed to register that she was there. Blinking his blue eyes rapidly, he closed the heavy college textbook he had been studying, but Kitty noticed his attempt to display that she was the focus of his attention was futile; the numerous other dense, university books scattered around the table remained open.

"Pardon?" An apologetic expression crossed his face.

For a moment, his beauty once again entranced Kitty, but she quickly regained her wits. "I was just wondering if you could tell me about that girl we found at Benetech."

A sigh escaped from Warren's lips, which Kitty really couldn't help but note, appeared very soft and full.

"I'm really not supposed to talk about that," Warren began, but Kitty interrupted before he could finish.

"Why isn't she taking any classes with us? Is she dangerous? Is she going to return to the MRD? Why is her name so weird?" Kitty rapidly questioned.

Warren groaned. "Why are you so obsessed with this kid, anyway?"

Kitty shrugged. "I'm curious about her. She's my own age, and I helped find her. What's she like?"

Warren eyed his textbooks longingly, as if he couldn't wait for her to leave so he could resume his studying. "I have an exam tomorrow. If you promise not to tell anybody I told you, I'll answer those questions. Deal?" He extended his hand for her to shake.

"Deal," Kitty concurred, pumping his hand enthusiastically.

"Okay," Warren conceded. "Rogue's mutation allows her to take the thoughts, abilities and memories of any person with who she establishes skin-to-skin contact. Because she has so many memories in her mind, which she obtained while she was drugged up, she can no longer distinguish which belong to her. She can't even remember her real name, but when she was an MRD operative, she was referred to as 'Project: Rogue', so now we just call her 'Rogue'.

"Rogue's abilities do make her dangerous. She can't actually touch another person without endangering them. Her mutation also borrows the abilities of any superhuman, so if their abilities are uncontrollable, Rogue proves to be a liability. She is not going to return to the MRD. And she isn't in any of your classes because Jean's been working with her by taking her to New York City to see if anything will trigger her real memories."

"Is it working?" Kitty asked eagerly.

Warren shook his head. "I held up my end of the bargain, Kitty. Now it's time for you to do the same." He pointed to the door.

Kitty sighed, but stood. "See ya."

Warren glanced up at her, already opening his textbook again. "Goodbye."

Finally, Kitty had some information about the mysterious girl who was residing at the school. She grinned in satisfaction as she skipped down the hall and reached the elevators. She stepped inside and hummed a little tune under her breath as she pushed the button to go the second floor, where the girls' dorms were located. At long last, she had what she wanted- an opportunity to speak to the stranger her own age.

A small _ping_ sounded as the elevator doors slid open on the second floor, and Kitty quickly stepped out. The moment she did, a motion in the hall caught her eye. Another girl strolled across the carpeted hardwood floor, her back to Kitty. Her movements were languid, almost cat-like, as she stopped in front of a door, opened it, and vanished inside.

Even though Kitty had seen barely more than a glimpse of her, she was certain that this was the girl from Benetech. Unbelievable; the girl had been right under her nose, living on the same floor as her!

But the time for self-reprimand would come later. Right now, Kitty had the opportunity to speak to the girl whom she had so eagerly tried visit on so many occasions.

Quickly, an idea formed in Kitty's mind. She rushed to her own dormitory, rapidly glancing around the room. Then, she spotted what she was looking for on her desk- a cheerful, decorative cookie tin, filled to the brim with her grandmother's cinnamon and walnut cookies.

Chatting over cookies would be the perfect way to get to know the latest addition to the Xavier Institute, Kitty decided. What better way to introduce yourself to your new classmate and potential friend than with a friendly smile and delicious sweets?

There wasn't a better way. Kitty smiled as she exited her room, pastel cookie tin in hand. But as she sauntered down the corridor to the room where she had seen the girl enter, her pace slowed, and her demeanor became less and less certain. For a moment, she paused altogether.

What if the girl was quiet, and didn't respond well to her questions? Or what if her teachers were right, and Rogue was in no condition to speak to anyone?

No. This was silly. If Rogue was well enough to be up and walking around, there was no reason why she wouldn't be able to talk.

But Kitty shivered with sudden cold as she remembered standing with Mr. Logan and Dr. McCoy in the darkness, listening and waiting for their attacker. The image of Rogue's lifeless, green eyes staring blankly floated into her mind, and the cookie tin rattled as her hands began shaking.

_Come on_, Kitty told herself. _If you've gone this far, there's no reason to back down now._

Now, she was standing directly in front of the door. Curling her lips up in a smile, Kitty determinedly raised her fist to knock.

But before she could place her fist against the wood, the door swung open, revealing Rogue.

With a startled shriek, Kitty jumped back.

Her eyes stared at Kitty, effectively unnerving the other girl as she remembered the first time she had seen the other girl's eyes. She turned and ran down the hallway to her room, locking the door behind her once she was inside.

Kitty flopped down on her bed covered by her cute, flowered duvet, her heart pounding. That had been_ so_ scary. . .

She groaned and sat up when she realized what she had done. After making such a fuss about meeting Rogue, she had run away from her when she finally had the opportunity to speak to her.

She was such an _idiot_, that was so embarrassing. . . but she had been so startled . . .

Oh, well. Hopefully if she introduced herself to Rogue tomorrow, she could explain the incident.

Kitty sighed, and fell back onto her bed.


End file.
